Company, company. Where would we be without company?

This past weekend we had some of Dad's old highschool friends down from NY. The Giardinas and Dad go wayyyyy back, and they come often in their huge long bus and visit us. Dad and Mr. Mark ended up taking off the entire counter-top, lifting it over the wall into the living room, putting on the back-splash, and then putting it back on. In the meantime the rest of us went berry-picking.

It started to rain right as we were wrapping up so we dashed to the van...only to see that it had died. It's a common problem in our home, actually. All you have to do is bang the battery with something and wiggle the wires. So I did that [in the pouring rain] to no avail [in the pouring rain.]

It was fun, by the way, though there was some danger, I suppose, of getting electrocuted. In the end we finally managed to pull a Damsel-in-Distress moment and the nice Blueberry Man gave us a jump as well as 4 bags of tomatoes, 3 bags of okra, and 4 pints of blueberries for free. :)

*win* ;)

Last night we ended up going out to dinner at the local pizza-place--a very rare treat for us! It was delicious. Absolutely delicious. All the more delicious because I knew that the next morning (this morning) I'd begin "shrinkage" and not be eating flour or sugar. 

(All right...I'm hungry now and this is looking even better than it did last night!)

Of course sitting next to the baby insures you a prime opportunity to snag the free packets of crackers for yourself...

"I'm innocent! Rah-ly I am." ;)

Sarah's 18 now...that means she gets to start wearing makeup. :)

Benj, Grace, and Abby chillin' on the front porch.

He's almost walking! Still needs a little help, but he's getting bolder.

"Would you like to see my mask?" ;)

It was a great weekend and I was so blessed that the Giardinas could come, that we could go berry-picking, that we could hang out, and then top it all off with pizza! :)

Candid: Photo-booth love

Well...they're hitched! And they set up a ripping-good photo-booth to document the event!

(And no--of course we don't go overboard on the chance to get free family photos. And we are not hams in front of the camera! What do you take us for? ;)

Anna, Sarah, and Leah.

I love Levi's expression and the way he just threw his hand over the frame. It is [arguably] my favorite of the whole set. :)

♫"We're two of a kind--the happiest pair now!"♫

Mysterious? Oh yes.

Priceless. Matthew & I. (Must I explain? Okay. He's my cousin, peoples. :)

And last but not least? The Importance of Being Earnest. Honestly. I totally see Jack and Algie here, don't you? :) They've totally got the dilettante style going.

It was a beautiful and blessed wedding with a deal of drop-dead-amazing cake and a new-born love of photo-booths. Oh yes. A lovely weekend in all respects.

Family Portraits: Noodleblonde

You all don't know my family that well yet. Of course you have probably read my "Lovely Family" page of this blog, but a line about each person isn't sufficient for you to know them. :) Thus I am going to go through the members of the great big family God has given me, (in no particular order) and let them have their fifteen minutes of fame. After all, how can you really know me unless you know the people I'm around 24-7? It just doesn't compute.

This is the sister right below me: Sarah. Alias Noodleblonde. Alias Cece

You will know her as...Sarah or the Nocturnal Why, depending on which of our blogs you've been reading. Sarah and I have a special relationship. We are [nearly] complete opposites, and yet this is why we fit so nicely together. I tend to be a dreamer, a wisher, a hoper. Sarah tends to be practical--more concerned with figuring out how it will happen than deciding that it should happen.

She is a quiet debater, as anyone who stays up late with her will find out: Why? Why is the moon sometimes invisible at night? What direction is North? How do you know?

Which brings me to the second point. Sarah is a night-owl. She squirms when anyone mentions early bedtimes.

Sarah loves coffee (we are united in this.) and making unheard of projects like Black Forest Cake.

She's always up for a challenge and will do something just because someone doubted her ability to do it.

She always wins the no-smiling-no-blinking game.

She always wins the wish-bone tug-of-war when we make chicken or turkey.

Sarah is an excellent photographer and documents our life and God's beauty with her...her...oh yeah.  Konika Minolta. (Or something like that. :P)

I can always count on Sarah to find the best pins on Pinterest before me so that I have to re-pin all of her pins. ;)

I can always count on her to understand my random train of thought.

She can carry on a conversation with me made up (mostly) of period-drama quotes.

She anticipates my reaction to things so that I don't feel the need of reacting. ;)

She has a gift in music.

She is my Coastal-baking buddy and is not afraid to belt out songs in her man-voice so that my own  softer soprano can carry the girl-part.

She deciphers my unofficial sign-language as if she was fluent in it. (I believe she is.)

Another lesson I often learn from Sarah is that of being silent. She isn't an introvert by any means, and yet she isn't always the one talking. Sarah has a spirit of cheerfulness and gratefulness that is always inspiring to me. She's up for a challenge so whatever the trial of the moment is, we can generally count on her to roll up her sleeves and step right in. She has that gift of being still and knowing that He is God. She is the Mary in the moments where I'm feeling like Martha. She challenges me to enjoy the little things in life constantly. 

Oh. She's also good with money. So good she won't spend it. 

That's a bit of Sarah, and that's only part of why I love her so much! :)